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Pennsylvania Hits Longest Budget Impasse In State History

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Pennsylvania state lawmakers adjourned for the holidays Wednesday afternoon without passing a budget, breaking the record for the longest budget impasse in modern history.

Republicans pushed for an 11-month $28.2 billion stop-gap measure, which Gov. Tom Wolf said he would veto.

The Democratic governor said the short-term budget would lead to the furlough of 8,000 state employees, largely hitting the Corrections, Probation and Parole Departments, as well as the State Police.

The House was slated to vote on a $30.8 billion long-term budget Wednesday, but it remains at a standstill over pension reform, spending and the lack of a state tax plan, Pennlive.con reports.

Many people like to lay blame. So be it. As to the #PABudget “framework,” I cannot support what it has become. major issues were put aside.

— Rep. Dave Reed (@RepReedPA) December 23, 2015

Wolf said the short-term budget would lead to the furlough of 8,000 state employees, largely hitting the Corrections, Probation and Parole Departments  as well as the State Police.

The Democratic governor called for a 16 percent increase to the state’s income tax in the budget he rolled out in October — a proposal Republicans said Pennsylvanians can’t afford.

The last time the state went this long without a budget was under former Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell in 2003.

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